Improvement in cotton-planters



i To all whom. imag concern .1

para ctc;

t jDE-'wrrrfc-ELLIs ANDcEoRcE N. Dahme, or aoonnsraanaw tamu.4

Letters reanuda. 112,567,` dated March 14, 187i.

iMProvi-:MEN-r 1N corToN-PLANTERS.

The` Scbedu1e-referred to in these Letters Patentrand making part of the-same.

l i Beit known `that we, DE WHT O. EIiLIsand GEORGE N. DMING, of Rochester, in the countyot' Monroe, in theStatc of New York, havefiuvented a new and useful Improvement in Cottonlseed Planters; and'we do.

` hereby declare that Ithefollowin'g is a full and exact descliption'the1-eot,1efcrencc being had to the accompanying drawing-and to theletters of reference markedthereonp Figure l `representsa proved planter. 3 t V Figure2urepresentsa:rear elevation ofthe same` `without thei"carryilig-wheels, a portionof the frame, and the drivc1"sseat.} t l t t liigurerepreseuts the getr-shaftandits gearing,

top view or plan of our imandthe.distributing-wlieels.` p The diiculties experienced 'in the attempts? to use ft machinery for plantingcotton' seed have mainly arisen `from the tbrousfnature-of the seeds, which causes them :to adhere to each othe whenanyconsiderable 4quantityis'bestowed inbulk. This tendency oftlie massof seeds toholdtogether in. the hopper of a ma- "llchine has to `be lovercome by some mechanism which willeiiciently operate `to detach the individual seeds from the bulk, l n order. to. produce-a practical cottonseed planterrf.

By repeated `experiments with derent kinds of' separating andrdistributiug machinery it was found t that theusebf a V-.shaped hopper increasedthe `tendencyof the-see'dsito adhereand become compact at fthejbottomiof the hopper;` also, that' rotating agitaf i tors,iw'o`rking verticallyttll'rough the mass of seedsin "the hopper, were not reliable as a means of preventing this. diiiicnltyl 1 1 After thoroughly t sting many arrangements of vat rions devices toeect the` desired' object, we organized ourlpresent` machine with thecylindrcal hopper, the L curved `rotating arms to feed the seed to the' verticall operation@ ,x t t M'lheieadingpbject of our,v invention is to provide t meansfiof detaching seedsfroni'tbe lower-surface of a bulk of seeds in the hopper, and to avoid the use of 4rotating arms arrangedlto work through the mass vof t i seeds, snchran arrangement `having Vbeen tried by us'- `atudffoundto .belineicient, and .exhaustive of 4the powerused to `propelthe machine, T his'led to the i arrangement of iiattened rotating `radialarms upon *the"bottom of the hopper,` so that they should notpass through the" massief seeds in the hopper, but should" glide' smoothlyand` easily under the body. of seeds., causing` openings or vacant spaces to be continuouslymde in rearof the arms, and between the lower stratumsof` seeds and the hopper-bottom, into j whichl openings the seeds, detached `from the lower ly-rotating distributer, and it has proven, successful inv v l surface of the mass 4by the `action of. the arms, will fall.

Our invention consists in the arrangement of horizontally-rotating feeding-arms upon the` level bottom ofthe cylindrical hopper', in combination with a verf tically-rotating dstributer working in' a slot at the periphery of` the hopper-bottom, the parts being constructed andoperated by a system of gearing hereinafter fully set forth.

Our machine is organized to plant .two rowsof seeds atthe same time, and these rows may be planted at a greater or lesser distance apart by adjusting the two sets of planting mechanism upon the i'ame of the machine. t

-Theframe A is supported upon the axle Bof `the driving-wheels O, which are provided with ratcl1etaudpawl connections, so as to operate the planting mech;-

anism by the advancing vmovement-of either wheel.`

The two` cylindrical hopprs D D are each supported upon four legs, i, which are fastened by screws or other `means to the two cross-pieces a b of the frame A.

The axle B carries the large ldogged wheel E, which meshes into the pinion F on the gear-shaft G, and the .latter hasits bearings in suitable journal-boxes in the brackets vfm. n, which are` secured upon the main frame, .as represented in iig. l of the drawing. f

. The toothed distributing-wheels o o and the beveled pinions ppmay be secured upon the gear-shaft G-by key/s, soV that they can be adjusted' towardor from;

`ea'ch other. l 4 The large beveled gear-wheels H are fastened upon the lowerends of, the short counter-shafts 1', which extend up through boxes secured at the bottoms'of hop of the hoppers, in which the teeth of thcdistribut-ing-l wheels. o work as tliesewheels revolve.

.The tubularhose I are connected, with hinged dragbars w, to the underside of thefrout cross-piece of framc'A, and these hose may be adjust-ed vertically by cordsandpulleys, or sheaves,.under` the control of the driver. f

` A spring-clutch',x, is employed 'upon -v-QshagtG, and it has a shipping-lever, y, which actuatestle clutchv to throw'the machine out ofgear, and a Aspiral spring on shaft G may be usedto cause the clutch to connect with pinion F, when not held out ot' Contact by lever y.'

The rear 'end of thislever is connected by a cord, z, with one of the cords l; and the two cords l Z, which pass under sheaves, extend in iiont of the drivers seat L, andare connected with a bent metal rod, which is at the control of the driver., to he adjusted upon the rack-bar K, connected with the front ot' the standard which supports the driveiis' seat L.

By this .arrangement of cords with therear upper ends of the hose I and with shipping-lever y, the hose may be eievated at the same time that the unshipping of the gears is effected, which -is necessary to be done when'turning the machine around in the field.

The drag-bars w andhoppers D may be so connected with frame A as to admit of lateral adjustment with the operating mechanism to vary the distance between the rows to be planted.

The teeth of the distributing-wheels extend across the periphery of the wheels, and are spaced with intervals between them of about three-fourths of an inch.

Substitute distiibnters may be used, which may' 'have longer spaces between the teeth to increase the quantity of seed to be planted. A

The slot g in the bottoms of the hoppers is ofjust the width of the thickness ofthe distributing-wheels,

and the spaces between the sides of the slots and between the teeth lof the wheels o form pockets, in to which a small number'yof seeds will -be deposited by the action of the feeding-arms s, which continuously move some of the seeds that they-detach from the bulk within the hopper, outwardly to the periphery of the hopper-bottom, and cause them to be deposited in pocket or slot g,`and as the wheel o rotates, the seeds thus deposited are carried under the' hopperbetteln and fall through the hose I, which communiworks.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that motion is communicated from the large gear-wheel E on axle B to pinion F, thence to the beveled pinions p, which mesh into the large horizontal gear-wheels H, thereby giving rotary motion to `the curved feedin g-arms s, and the distribnt-er o rotates with the gearshai't G. Y

Our machine is so' organized that it can be used to distribute fertilizing materiais in rows, either mixed with the seeds or separately.

Having fully describedour improved cotton-seed' planter,

We claim as our invention and desire tov secure by Letters Patentl The arrangement, in a cotton-seed planter, of the horizontally-rotating feeding-arms s upon the bottom of the cylindrical 'hopper D, in combination with the vertically-rotating distributer o, working in a slotatA the'periphery of the `hopper-bottom, the parts being constructed and operated by-a system of gearing, substantiaily as and for the purpose described.

In witness whereof' we have hereunto set our hands this 27th day of January, 1871.

DE XVITT C. ELLIS. Y GEORGEN. DEMING.

Witnesses:

S. D. Gomrwnm., H. P. K. Pneu.

cafes with the boxin which the distributizig-wheel4 

